National Rollout of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

A budgetary allocation of Rs 1,600 crore for five years has been approved by the Union Cabinet for the countrywide rollout of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). In order to link their digital health records to Ayushman Bharat health account numbers, residents can create Ayushman Bharat health account numbers. 

As recommended by the National Health Policy 2017 (NHP), Ayushman Bharat is a flagship programme of the Indian government designed to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). A video conference with the Prime Minister launched the platform in September 2021. 

The project is intended to provide all Indian citizens with digital health IDs, which will allow hospitals, insurance companies, and citizens to access medical records electronically. In his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2020, the Prime Minister announced the launch of the mission. 

At the moment, six states and union territories are participating in the pilot project. As the implementing agency, the NHA under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is responsible.

• The government of India launched Ayushman Bharat in 2018 (as outlined in the National Health Policy 2017) to improve healthcare access and affordability for citizens and help the country reach its goal of universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030.

Features of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

• The project establishes a digital health ecosystem in which every citizen of India now has a unique health ID, a digitised health record, and a unique identification code for their doctors and health facilities.
• Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana will be the vehicle in charge of the program.
• A core set of six key elements comprises HealthID, DigiDoctor, Health Facility Registry, Personal Health Records, e-Pharmacy, and Telemedicine.
• As the country’s primary health authority, the NHA has been charged with designing, building, rolling out, and implementing the mission.
• Health ID, DigiDoctor, and Health Facility Registry are the foundational building blocks of the mission. They are owned, operated, and maintained by the government.
• The private sector will also have the option to integrate and develop their own products. However, the government will still be responsible for performing the most crucial activities.
• The Indian National Health Mission will provide every Indian with an identification card that stores all health details related to their lives. This includes prescriptions, treatments, diagnostics, and discharge summaries.
• The Health ID is a randomly generated 14-digit number that is used to identify people, authenticate them, and enable their health records to be shared across multiple systems (with their informed consent) with multiple stakeholders.
• During a hospital consultation, patients will be able to share this information with their doctors.

Benefits of The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

• People will benefit from this mission as they will no longer have to search for doctors, make appointments, pay consultation fees, and make several trips to hospitals to collect prescription sheets, among other things, and will be empowered to make informed decisions about their healthcare. 
• The mission aims to ease the burden of doing business for doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers.
• It benefits by providing citizens with access to their longitudinal health records on a consent basis.
• The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) played an instrumental role in the revolutionization of payments by creating an integrated ecosystem for digital health.
• As part of the mission, telemedicine will be promoted, and national portability of health services will be enabled, which will provide improved “equitable access” to quality healthcare.

Concerns on Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

• Some experts argue that a lack of access to technology, poverty, and a lack of understanding of the language are problems that need to be tackled in a vast and diverse country like India.
• Insurance companies, international researchers, and pharmaceutical companies all have access to personalised data collected at multiple levels.
• The consent of the citizen is required for all access. It is imperative that the information released be protected with the beneficiary’s consent.
• Multiple data migration errors and shortcomings, as well as concerns about data security, still abound for both interstate data transfer and the migration of data between states.
• Exceptional treatment of citizens and denial of healthcare as a result of systemic failures is also a cause for concern.

Conclusion

As part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the government of India intends to develop the infrastructure required to support an integrated digital health system. By integrating digital highways, it will reduce the current gap between stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. To facilitate electronic access to health records for hospitals, insurance companies, and citizens, it aims to provide digital health IDs for all Indian citizens. In the spirit of the Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile (JAM) trinity and other digital initiatives introduced by the government, using a comprehensive set of data, information, and infrastructure services, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will provide seamless, standards-based, interoperable digital solutions while ensuring security, confidentiality, and privacy for health-related personal information.